The Dirty GRE

The Dirty GRE is a collection of twenty dirty short-short stories. Each tale contains ten vocabulary words for a total of two hundred words commonly seen on graduate level admissions tests. There is also a short quiz included after each story. Simply put, The Dirty GRE is an enjoyable way to build vocabulary.

Nathaniel Tower is a former English teacher who now spends his days at a computer. When not at work, he writes fiction and manages the online literary magazine Bartleby Snopes. If he's not writing or editing, he's either spending time with his wife and daughter, listening to records, or going for long runs while juggling. His short fiction has appeared in over two hundred online and print magazines and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Million Writers Award. His first collection of short fiction, Nagging Wives, Foolish Husbands, was released in 2014 by Martian Lit.

Reviews

This is definitely the most unique study guide I've ever come across. My boyfriend was studying for his GRE when we came across this. The Dirty GRE features twenty short story collections. Obviously they're not your typical boring college-level reads. These are 'dirty' tales, featuring entertaining and often absurd erotica themes. After each story is a study guide featuring ten vocabulary words in the story that are commonly found on the graduate level admissions test.

So what about the stories? Where do I even start? If you're looking for reads you'll actually remember, then this is definitely the book for you. Between horny incestual squids and a woman who must be covered in fish skin in order to orgasm- you definitely won't have trouble getting through these stories. They are so ridiculous and often offensive that I found myself cringing with each tale. Yet each one is written in an engaging way, that even amidst it's somewhat hard-to-read content, I just couldn't pull my eyes away from the pages. It was like watching a weird porno that you couldn't grasp the entire concept of, but heck- you weirdly enjoyed watching it.

These stories obviously aren't meant to be taken seriously. They're quire short (each one reaching between 1,000 to 2,000 words), but they certainly are memorable. My boyfriend and I had a blast reading each one and then taking the quiz for the vocabulary words afterwords. Granted, I have no college experience or degree, but I avidly enjoy reading and for me learning all of the new words was a lot of fun. The stories themselves made the studying experience fun for my boyfriend as well who has SO much college experience that I'm sure he's sick and tired of most study guides. This one on the other hand kept him fully awake- even into the third hour of studying.

So- obviously this book would be ideal for anyone studying for their GRE, but I don't suggest that others count it out. If you enjoy a vocabulary challenge and totally weird stories- this book is definitely going to be worth picking up. I loved it. I laughed at it. I cringed at it. I REMEMBERED it. Read it for fun, or studies- or both.